Say It with Confidence: Overcome the Mental Blocks that Keep You from Making Great Presentations and Speeches

Customer Reviews:

A ton of really good public speaking information.......2005-09-26

I was going to give this only three stars before it hit me why this book is so good. The reason for the three stars--it's obvious that this is the author's first book. It needs to be heavily edited, it starts out pretty slowly, and it's written more toward the level of high-level public speakers. It also tells you more of what not to do rather than what to do.

But, as I've been thinking about it for the last week since I finished the book, I've realized why this book is so good. This author has tons of unique concepts on speech. I've been thinking about this book ever since I finished it, and these really cool concepts that the author discusses keep coming back to me.

A few of them are:
-Making sure that all of your speech relates to the audience's "carrots"
-That confidence comes from three things: 1) knowing what to do, 2) learning to do it, and 3) doing it often enough so you can do it with confidence
-How public speaking is like dancing
-That PowerPoint is bad for almost all presentations

The book's last half is much, much stronger than the first half. This is pretty rare in a book.

Hopefully this author will write another book. She's got a lot to share, and I think that her next book will be a bestseller.

Anyone who speaks needs this book.......2002-05-01

I have found this book extremely helpful in planning and giving presentations - much more than most of the other books out there on public speaking. I make a lot of speeches every year, and I often go back to the presentation analysis form the author suggests to make sure I'm going to connect with the audience.

The very best thing about this book is the underlying message in every chapter: it's not about you the speaker. It's about your relationship with the listeners. When you are thinking about them and helping them understand your ideas, you lose the self-consciousness about yourself.

This is a useful book for both experienced speakers (the exercises are terrific!) and people new to speaking who need a boost in confidence.

Changed my life as a presenter!.......2002-04-26

I used to shake- literally tremble -at thought of presenting. My heart would pound, my palms would sweat - I felt completely out of control. "Say it with Confidence" helped me take control, relax and conquer my anxieties. I now do public speaking on a regular basis and each time it gets easier. This book is entertaining and a fun read...but more importantly it is the antidote to presentation fears!

Changed my life as a presenter!.......2002-04-26

With "Say It With Confidence" You Find Your OWN Confidence.......2002-04-20

I read this book because I found, after many years out of the workforce, I was less confident in my ability to present to any size audience. It was hard to use my voice effectively and relax. "Say It With Confidence" showed me better than any other book that the internal process of finding a personal style, using what feels natural and feeling the success of doing all of that really well produces a solid level of self confidence that stays with you for a longer time than any program with the same list of steps to follow for everybody. The whole idea of approaching yourself, not with a formula, but with a real self analysis makes so much more sense.
Say It With Confidence uses personal experiences of the author to show you that she really knows how to help people overcome mental blocks because she personally overcame her own and understands what it takes. Her anecdotes tell the story of what works and what doesn't work more so than any lecture or 'how to' approach ever could. The author's experience helping people with this subject/skill with advice tailored to each unique person in their own unique set of circumstances shows great insight into the individual and that we all can't expect ourselves to turn ourselves into 'someone else' in order to succeed. I loved the book. I'd recommend it to anyone trying to overcome fear of presenting, to anyone interviewing for jobs, for anyone who wants to learn how to communicate to customers, management or even subordinates.

Say It with Confidence: Overcome the Mental Blocks that Keep You from Making Great Presentations & Speeches (1stbooks Library (Series).)

Average customer rating:

A ton of good public speaking information

Say It with Confidence: Overcome the Mental Blocks that Keep You from Making Great Presentations & Speeches (1stbooks Library (Series).)
Margo T. Krasne
Manufacturer: 1st Books Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Public Speaking | Words & Language | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 141400205X

Customer Reviews:

A ton of good public speaking information.......2005-09-26

I can see you naked: A fearless guide to making great presentations

Average customer rating:

The Naked Truth
Full of Helpful Tips
Goes for style over substance
One of the best !
Needed more examples

I can see you naked: A fearless guide to making great presentations
Ron Hoff
Manufacturer: Andrews And McMeel
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Reference | Subjects | Books

Public Speaking | Words & Language | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0836279441

Customer Reviews:

The Naked Truth.......2007-02-27

This book was one of my sources for my masters thesis: "A Systematic Approach to Making Presentations in a Corporate and Sales Environment." You can probably find some useful information in all of these books, but this one was the least effective for me.

The author suggests that one way to overcome nervousness is to imagine that your audience is naked. Hence, the provocative title. For the nervous presenter, it would be completely distracting to imagine your audience in the nude.

I eagerly turned to the part about "presence" or "charisma," not having been able to find an empirical definition for one. To my disappointment, the author gave an example of what it wasn't. Any definition he wrote, wasn't memorable.

So, here are my three suggestions for presenters and trainers:

* Never show up twenty minutes late to teach Time Management. No matter what you say, your credibility is shot to hell.

* Never pop in the video or DVD and turn the lights out, especially after lunch. (You'll never get them back.)

* ENSURE that you turn off the battery pack to your lapel microphone before using the restroom. (The speakers are still in the room.)

Recommendation for the book? It can't hurt, but read some of the more glowing reviews before you decide.

Full of Helpful Tips.......2006-12-24

I am terrified of giving presentations. Even when I get together with people I have known for years, I become afraid if I have to stand up in front of them all and discuss a topic. All those eyeballs staring at me - I just know I will say something stupid, or they will lose interest in my discussion. I begin to shake and forget what I am going to say.

With "I Can See You Naked", Ron Hoff tries to ease the fear of public speaking - a fear that studies say is the most common fear in the US. It's more common than the fear of death, or heights! We all worry about what others think. While death might be far off, if you're standing in front of a group, their disapproval is right there, staring you in the face. With the average attention span being 10 seconds or less, if you're not actively engaging your group, you can lose them quickly.

While this book seems aimed at people giving a sales speech to businesspeople, there are certainly enough tips in here to help out casual speakers, trainers, and other people who have to speak in front of groups. There are hints on a warm-up routine. Advice about what to do the night before. Information about catching your audience's attention and keeping it. Warning signs in body language to watch out for. How to deal with bad situations, from faulty equipment to cranky audience members.

Sure, some of this advice is common sense - but other of it is quite helpful. Just having a list of options to try can be extremely helpful. There are suggestions about what to do with your hands, what to wear, how to say things.

One book will never solve all of a public speaker's fears. Only time and practice will do that. However, it really did help to read the book, and to get some concrete ideas of things to try to make things easier.

Well recommended.

Goes for style over substance.......2006-03-24

I have no doubt that Hoff makes wonderful presentations, but he's written the book as though he's making a presentation. The techniques of effective writing are very different from those of effective speaking. Hoff takes pages and pages to make even the simplest point, something that could have been communicated in three sentences perfectly well. He can't simply just come out and state a something and be content with the fact that he's just shared something extremely useful. He comes off as trying to entertain more than inform. If you're making a presentation to high school students, maybe that's a good idea. But after 50 pages in a book, it starts to feel incredibly condescending. If you want a book that assumes you're reasonably intelligent, don't buy this one.

One of the best !.......2006-02-11

To prepare my presentations, I went through a dozen books on presentation skills. This book turns on the light bulb! The carton illustrations throughout the book are funny and strike. Just give you an example of how practical the techniques are. I actually used something I learned from this book helped my little daughter on her life crisis. When she told me about other kids were teasing her at school. She had tears in her eyes. I told her to laugh with them the next time. She said, "Are you kidding? How could I!!?". "Just imagine they are ..., looking funny, use your imagination.". Later she told me it worked! And most important, it changed her attitude!

Needed more examples.......2005-06-13

I am a trainer and thought this book might help me with my presentation skills, but it seems to me it is geared toward sales presentations. I found some useful tidbits here and there, but overall it wasn't worth my time.

I also think the book needs more examples of what to do correctly. It gives plenty of ideas of what not to do, but few ideas of what to do instead. Only one or two chapters really give good ideas on "fixing your weaknesses."

Average customer rating:

Making Great Presentations (Essentials)
Ghassan Hasbani
Manufacturer: How to Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Advertising | Marketing & Sales | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Running Meetings & Presentations | Skills | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Rhetoric | Words & Language | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1857035097

Speak Smart: How to Overcome Your Fears and Give Great Speeches

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Speak Smart: How to Overcome Your Fears and Give Great Speeches
Julian Fleisher
Manufacturer: audible.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Download
ASIN: B00005UPTZ

Voices of Experience: The Professional's Guide to Making Great Presentations

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Voices of Experience: The Professional's Guide to Making Great Presentations
Jacqui Harper
Manufacturer: How to Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Management | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Running Meetings & Presentations | Skills | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1857038142

Average customer rating:

Making Great Presentations
Cader
Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Book Description

The Industrial Revolution has sometimes been regarded as a catastrophe which desecrated the English landscape and brought social opporession and appalling physical hardship to the workers. In this book, however, it is presented as an important and beneficial mark of progress. In spite of destructive wars and a rapid growth of population, the material living standards of most of the British people improved, and the technical innovations not only brought economic rewards but also provoked greater intellectual ingenuity. Innovation is therefore seen by Ashton not just as an economic course but as a social and cultural process influenced by factors such as war and peace and the framework of law and institutions. Lucidly argued and authoritative, this bookplaces the phenomenon of the Industrial Revolution in a stimulating perpsective. A new Preface by Professor Pat Hudson outlines the results of recent research precipitated by Ashton's themes: the true causes of population growth in the eighteenth century, the nature of the supply of capital, and the new approaches to labour studies amongst others. This Preface places The Industrial Revolution in its contemporary context, and a new thoroughly updated bibliography means that fifty years on, Ashton's work can continue to be of value to modern readers.

Customer Reviews:

A solid, no-nonsense book about an important subject.......1999-10-12

First published in 1948, this book has gone through many editions, the latest, as we can see here, put out in 1998. I recently read the 1964 edition, picked up long ago at a booksale in Melbourne, Australia. Ashton's work is probably timeless. It is a down-to-earth, very well reasoned history of the various historical tendencies and phenomena that together are called "the industrial revolution". I cannot vouch for this volume being absolutely correct. The author does not have much time for those who dwell on the evils of industrialization, or who want to include class struggle in their analysis. Though I was not fully convinced of this, still I was willing to listen. Not being an expert in the field, I was looking for a decent explanation or summary of the whole process. I definitely got my money's worth in Ashton's book. It is well-written, without jargon and without presumption of vast historical knowledge on the part of the reader. It gives you an overview of such various fields as population growth, early forms of industry in England, the technical innovations, capital, banking, labor unions, conditions of workers, industrialists' clubs, and relation of agriculture to industry. Though I found the part about banks and interest rather rough going, it was entirely due to my own poor understanding of the field. My edition could have used a map. The shires, the rivers, and the many towns of England are not all imprinted firmly in the brains of North Americans. Other than that, I would heartily recommend this book to anyone who wants to improve their understanding of the Industrial Revolution.

simply delightful to read as well as a thorough resource.......1998-12-04

I can't believe I'm the first to write about this. I bought this a few years back while a graduate student in modern European history. My focus was primarily industrialization. This book is a joy. Ashton provides a thorough picture of the Revolution from several perspectives. He describes how events and developments built upon each other and how the innovators fed each others efforts. Most importantly, Ashton is a terrific writer. Other books on this and like topics can be as dry as the Sahara. Ashton is engaging and witty. This is not a book that requires a terrifically large committment. Even if you are not a student but simply interested in the topic, please read this.

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The Industrial Revolution 1760-1830
T. S. Ashton
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ILF0FG

Elementary Literacy on the Eve of the Industrial Revolution: Trends in Rural New England, 1760-1830 (New Rivers Press Chapbook)

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Elementary Literacy on the Eve of the Industrial Revolution: Trends in Rural New England, 1760-1830 (New Rivers Press Chapbook)
William J. Gilmore
Manufacturer: University of Virginia Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Industrial Revolution 1760 - 1830.
T S Ashton
Manufacturer: OUP 1972. (Opus)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000L5OCYO

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The Industrial Revolution 1760 -1830.
T. S. ASHTON
Manufacturer: Oxford UP
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000TCEZNC

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INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 1760-1830
T. S. Ashton
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OKEIBS

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The Industrial Revolution 1760-1830
T. S. Ashton
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000JUM1CG

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The Industrial Revolution 1760-1830
T. S. Ashton
Manufacturer: Oxford
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GS8DKU

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THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 1760-1830
T.S. ASHTON
Manufacturer: OXFORD UNIVERSITY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000S6O886

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The Industrial Revolution 1760-1830

Manufacturer: Oxford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HTLMO2

Oecd Economic Surveys: Mexico 2000 (O E C D Economic Surveys Mexico)
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Oecd Economic Surveys: Mexico 2000 (O E C D Economic Surveys Mexico)
Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development
Manufacturer: Organization for Economic
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

International | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 9264175407

Book Description

In 1994, when Chelsea Green published The Straw Bale House, the response from many people was a loud, "Huh?!" Those days are gone. With more than 100,000 copies sold, and straw bale projects underway in most regions of North America, we've entered a new era. Even building-code officials and insurance companies now look favorably upon straw bale buildings, with their extraordinary energy efficiency and wise use of agricultural waste for construction materials. Bergeron and Lacinski's new book Serious Straw Bale is the first to look carefully at the specific design considerations critical to success with a straw bale building in more extreme climates-where seasonal changes in temperature, precipitation, and humidity create special stresses that builders must understand and address. The authors draw upon years of experience with natural materials and experimental techniques, and present a compelling rationale for building with straw-one of nature's most resilient, available, and affordable byproducts. For skeptics and true believers, this book will prove to be the latest word. * Thorough explanations of how moisture and temperature affect buildings in seasonal climates, with descriptions of the unique capacities of straw and other natural materials to provide warmth, quiet, and comfort year-round. * Comprehensive comparison of the two main approaches to straw bale construction: "Nebraska-style," where bales bear the weight of the roof, and framed structures, where bales provide insulation. * Detailed advice-including many well-considered cautions-for contractors, owner-builders, and designers, following each stage of a bale-building process. This is a second-generation straw bale book, for those seeking serious information to meet serious challenges while adventuring in the most fun form of construction to come along in several centuries.

Customer Reviews:

Happy Piggy.......2007-10-01

I've been doing research for a house I'm hoping to build in 5 to 10 years, and straw bale is one of the wall systems I'm seriously considering. This book was extremely informative. I confess I often skimmed past sections dealing with cold, wet climates (I live in Arizona), but sometimes I read through them just because they were so interesting. If you're considering using this wall system for your own project, this book is a good place to start.

How to Build a Straw House.......2007-04-04

Everything you ever wanted to know about building a straw home from the ground up can be found in this manual.

Uneven but mostly good information.......2007-04-02

I recommend this book with certain caveats. There is certainly some good information in the book and led me to some ideas that never occurred to me before, but the information is uneven, more than a little poorly organized and requires the reader to make some connections to pull the whole together.

The authors give an overview of many ways to do things, but almost never come to any conclusions on how things should be done. Many systems are discussed, some in detail and some not. The interactions of these systems the readers are considering should be explored as well as certain combinations are sure to cause problems in construction or in the life of the building. Of course as the authors note many times this style of construction is experimental and that is half the fun but I am buying the book to get the benefit of others experience.

The authors' ideology is evident in many parts, as well as an assumption that their readers have similar opinions. This can get a little annoying as they wax rhapsodic about the spiritual connections to the materials and decry modern industrial techniques. In some cases they probably make good points, but for those to whom straw bales are a means to an end- comfortable, efficient and non-toxic housing- space in the book would be better reserved for technical opinions than spiritual ones. Thankfully they do everyone a great service by disabusing fellow travelers of a few romantic illusions about straw bale and other edgy building techniques.

Illustrations in the book are an annoying aspect. Some are good and clearly depict what the authors words have trouble with. Other times they will start talking about a technique without defining it, or when they did define it I found my self wishing they just gave me a good picture.In a few cases, they give a picture, they give a discription, but are missing a label or other indicator that would easily tie it together and make sense. A well detailed sketch is worth at least a page of prose.

Finally for a book that extols the beauty of bale construction, they would do well to get a better photographer to do their pictures. Most of the photos in the book are awful and if readers are not already familiar with some bale buildings they may be more scared than attracted. One might get the idea that bale buildings are dark, dingy, dreary and populated by scary strange people. They are not (usually).

Sadly, this book is more useful than most on the subject of straw bales. If you are considering working with bales, I would recommend this book before starting any project... just don't let the pictures scare you away.

This is the one........2007-01-12

Let me just say that if you are going to buy only one book on straw bale home construction, this is the one. It is very comprehensive and enlightening. I am very happy with this purchase. This book is written for us who plan to build our own homes, step by step, begining to end it is all here. Not just a collection of pretty pictures but the real deal. Also I think the price very reasonable considering the amount of information, insight, tutorials pictures, advice and encouragement given. Delivery from Amazon, as always, was fast.

serious straw bale.......2007-01-10

considered the best book on the market by professional straw bale builders

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